“I was very disappointed that at no point did I get inspired, and I get inspired easily,” Noble, a city employee, wrote on Facebook. “I wanted to see a presentation of what’s to come for our city, a vision for the next year and a call to action for all the rest of us — similar to, say, the [Ulster] County executive’s State of the County [address] a few weeks ago.

“Instead, we got odd references that not everyone understood about a potential developer with maybe a hotel here or a motel there or some sort of NSA (National Security Agency)/defense-type business at our business park,” he added.

Noble, who works for the city an environmental educator and is a nephew of Common Council President James Noble, said in early January that he might challenge Gallo in a Democratic mayoral primary this year. Gallo, first elected in 2011, has said he plans to run for a second four-year term.

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Gallo responded to Noble’s criticism by saying he has heard no complaints about his speech, except that it was too long. The mayor spoke for about an hour and 45 minutes on Feb. 5.

“The only complaint I heard was that they (attendees) wanted pillows,” Gallo said Tuesday.

Gallo also said he has hard compliments from those who attended regarding partnerships he has forged with community groups, clergy and others, which he spoke about in his address.

“These are groups that form the partnership, and every one of their representatives stated to me how supportive they are and how inspired they were and how excited they were about the vision we all have,” Gallo said. “It is a shame that Mr. Noble is not part of that vision.”

Gallo said he didn’t want to comment further because he was busy running a $40 million business — the city.

Though seeming more and more like a candidate, Noble said Tuesday that he hasn’t made up his mind yet about running for mayor.

“I will be making an announcement whether I will be running in the coming weeks,” he said in an email.

In his Facebook post, Noble noted that Gallo’s speech included several references to “working together.”

“The general idea was we work well with others except when we don’t, and when that happens, it’s not our fault and you need to get in line,” Noble said.

Noble, on Facebook, also questioned the overall effect of Gallo’s leadership.

“I also got the sense that Mayor Gallo truly believes he manages an open, transparent government that is willing to work with everyone, and they honestly believe that,” Noble wrote in his Facebook post. “He believes we are where we are today due to his leadership skills. I think not everyone would agree with him on this.”

Noble said he would have liked to hear more from the mayor about the city’s proposed Comprehensive Plan. The committee overseeing the development of that plan is headed by Noble’s uncle.

“I would have loved to hear more from him about the comp plan,” Noble wrote. “How we would look to start implementing the plan and zoning changes and what the next steps are.”

Noble also said that while there were references in Gallo’s speech to “connectivity” he was “disappointed to not hear the words ‘Kingston Land Trust.’”

That group, of which Noble is a member, has pushed for a rail trail from Midtown to Kingston Point.

Gallo said not mentioning the Kingston Land Trust was an oversight and that he sees the group as a partner in city affairs.

Noble, in the Facebook post, said, “Three is no denying Kingston is on the upswing. We have amazing people in this community from all over who love this city and who want to see it succeed. The question is, how do we move forward? Do we continue to look at the past, or do we start to plan for the future? How about you?”

Noble, 32, is a lifelong Kingston resident. He lives on Wilson Avenue, in the Roosevelt Park area of the city, with his wife Julie and son Matthew, 4. Julie Noble is head of the Kingston Conservation Advisory Council and, like her husband, is an environmental educator for the city.

Steve Noble has been instrumental in obtaining grants for Kingston, including money for the city’s single-stream recycling program, Uptown parking lot improvements and upgrades to Forsyth Park.

Noble has worked for the city since 2005 and has the title environmental program operations specialist. His annual compensation, including benefits, is $56,848, according to Kingston Comptroller John Tuey. Julie Noble’s salary and benefits total $75,378.

About the Author

Paul Kirby is a reporter for the Freeman, covering Kingston politics. He has been at the Freeman since August 1996. Reach the author at pkirby@freemanonline.com
or follow Paul on Twitter: @PaulatFreeman.